Ask HN: What problem does blockchain tech solve that databases don't? To me it seems that every alleged application of blockchain technology can be done by having a trusted organization maintaining a reliable database. Am I missing something? |
Ask HN: What problem does blockchain tech solve that databases don't? To me it seems that every alleged application of blockchain technology can be done by having a trusted organization maintaining a reliable database. Am I missing something? |
You're right that many blockchain projects are based on one organization, let's say that Porsche project, and they could use a distributed database instead.
https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/themes/porsche-digital/porsc...
"All activities are documented in the blockchain, making deletions transparent." Sure, but Porsche is the only provider of data (writes) and can change the rules. I don't see how others are writing in the same blockchain.
Blockchain tech allows for a distributed and trustless version of whatever you'd otherwise do with a reliable centralised database operated by a trusted party.
b. The problem of being able to sell your solution while having a shockingly low transaction per second.
Congratulations, you have just discovered that every application of a decentralized service can be implemented with an appropriate centralized service without changing much of the protocol running on top of that service. You do know that this is an obvious result, right?
Blockchain is the first cryptographic protocol for document timestamping that does not need the trusted third party to run. This alone is a significant technical success.
I wouldn’t want, eg my health records stored on a system that isn’t trusted. This is one often cited application of blockchain.
Blockchain is a service that adds a (cryptographic) timestamp to documents, so everybody can tell which of the two related documents was issued earlier. Blockchain doesn't do absolutely anything else! If a specific use case is not made easier when you can tell which of the two documents was earlier, then using blockchain is pointless.